Notre Dame At 85 Scholarships: LB David Adams Retires
Notre Dame was hovering above the NCAA mandated limit of 85 scholarships for a while now. Until Wednesday that is. Sophomore David Adams announced his retirement late Tuesday due to a litany of injuries he suffered over the last few years. Adams announced his retirement on Twitter late Tuesday night.
https://twitter.com/David_Adams1335/status/1009255704446881792
Adams suffered through a number of injuries during his brief football career. According to Irish Sports Daily, the listed included:
- Concussions
- Surgery on left shoulder from complete labral tear
- Surgery on right shoulder from a torn labrum, rotator cuff, and bicep tendon
- Right knee surgery on a cyst
- Torn UCL in his elbow
- Sprained MCL
- Chronic severe shin splints
- Chronic severe patellar tendinitis in the knees
That is a lot for any athlete to endure let alone one just a year removed from his high school graduation.
David Adams came to Notre Dame just last year as part of a two man linebacking class in 2017. Adams was a composite 4-star linebacker and the highest rated backer of the duo in the class that also featured Drew White. Both, however were recruited for former defensive coordinator Brian Vangorder’s traditional 4-3 defense. With the arrival of Mike Elko’s and now Clark Lea’s 4-2-5 defense that features two traditional linebackers and a ROVER, Notre Dame faced a potential logjam in the linebacking corps.
Adams’ early retirement – which will keep him on scholarship but not count against the 85 limit – still leaves Notre Dame with a lot of bodies to man the three positions following a few position changes. Isaiah Robertson, DJ Morgan, and Jordan Genmark-Heath all appear to have futures at linebacker after coming to Notre Dame as defensive backs.
The Irish also signed four linebackers in February in the class of 2018 and have two backs committed for 2019 following the commitments of Jack Kiser and Osita Ekwonu last week.
Prior to the news of the early end to Adam’s career, Notre Dame was sitting at 86 scholarships and that was following the graduate transfers of Jay Hayes, Nick Watkins, and Freddy Canteen. Notre Dame is now at 85 scholarships and could conceivably end up below the 85 limit by the time practice begins in August.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Just now offering? What’s going on Kelley?
Burgie , took my chemo sodden brain a bit to figure it out. The best of spring!
Glad to hear David retired!
Godspeed
Maybe consider it yourself.